The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-07-27
THE FREE BATHS.
ONE OF fAE POPULAR lNsTlTUa
TioNs OF THE METROPOLIS.

ONE OF THE POPULAR lNsTiTUa
TloNs OF THE METROPOLIS.
A Blessing to New York's Warm and
perspirlnr Juveniles-''Ladies' Days."
When Cash Girls and nIiu Employee
Have q Chance: 49, e,
Among the tnany public institutions Of
this city the free bathing system is during
the summer months pre:eniinently the
most populaT: The free bathing house is
the poor mans seaside, and from. day to
day during the summer season the warm
and perspiring humanity of the town
turns out in countless numbers, and seeks
within its ugly wooden wallis inrigorating
GOODNESS and health renewing exercise.
On Tuesdays, thursdays Saturdays and
part of Sunday the meh mud boys take
hdssession bE The hoiises, while Monday,
"Wednesday md Friday arc ''ladies' days"
In the former crowd there is generally O
sprinkling of mechanics, day laborers and
clerks, but the major part OF 1t consists OF
youtdAwild, extbefailt totth! youth OF
different ages, nationality and attire; but
with bne single object in view; and that
To dodge. the keeper md sWith Us long and
pfteh as possible. Pushing and struggling
for an entrance there are leaden heeled
messenger boys displaying for the moment
that marvellous activity that they never
exhibit anywhere else but on the signs and
advertisements of their respective compa-
MES; office boys, who have been sent upon
important errands, which in the ex.
eitensnt Of the moment they have forgot.
ten all abbtt; and schoolboys, who are
tspiaying ho6key;,n within whom, even i4
the midst ,of their widest pleasure, tise5
disheartehing conjectures rs to how they
are going to catch it tomorrow.
TIE BOY FROM NOWHERE.
But the boy who comes from nowhere
and belongs to nobody is the predominant.
ing element This vagrant Juvenile is OF
nd particular age or size, is sometimes the
t3ossessof of budding miistache.. and
Sometimes bit mere infant. His parents
being unable to bear the expense OF sup
porting him, turned him out an early age;
so as far as family ties are concerned he is
unburdencd by them, and lives on in bliss.
full ignorance Of the fact that he ever had
my relations. His dress Is marked
throughout by an extreme simplicity. 1t
consists of Il worn out shirt and single
Btispehder that supports o pair of trousers
which, in addition to being either incon.
yeniently too large or ridiculously too
smal, are covered with ingeniously in-
serted hnd many tolofed patches. Hatsj
shoes and stockings are looked upon as
effeminatc luXuries, and are scorned ac-
cordingly. His language conyinces you
at once that he is not member of q Bible
class, for it is permeated with species OF
precoeious profanity that for fertility OF
Invention cannot be surpassed. An
empty barrel with some straw in the bot
tom Of It answers for home during one
part Of the ycnr, while hallway or
secluded alley sulaces when the winter
comes. During the warm months he
spends his day in the water; the keeper
may put him out again and again, may
threaten him until his voice grows weak
and may congratulate himself that he has
finally got rid of him, but nevertheless he
always comes back. A twist Of the hair,
a turn of the shirt, and he boldly marches
in as somebody else. At the first cold
snap he deserts the docks, and disappears
among the labyrinthian lanes of the tene;
ment house region.
On sladies' days" the assemblage that
gathers at the baths is a small and quiet
one. It is greatest towards evening when
the stores close up and the factories and
mills stop running. The little cash girl
with her bathing suit under her arm come6
down with number Of her bosom friends
or perhaps her mother, and plunging into
the inviting waves forgets for o delicious
twenty minutes that there are such things
as crowded and heated stores, lynx eyed
and faulthnding floor walkers and domi-
neering salesladies, although from morn
ing to night these three things are the
irritating and disturbing elements in her
small life. ,4
ToILERs FROM THE MILLS.
The women and children who toll in the
mills are there, glad to escape for few
short hours from the whirring wheels, the
din of the machinery; and the clnshing
spindlcs that weave out the web that
never seems to end. But the most pathct-
ic figure there is that of the poor seam
stress who has left her work in the dingy
garret for few moments and stolen away
to enjoy O dip before commencing again:
She does not laugh and shout as the others
do, but, comes quietly away when the
bath is over. The river has given q little
sparkle to her weary eyes and little color
to her faded cheeks, and she goes back to
the dingy garret, the sputtering candle
and the work that will last long after the
other inmates of the house are asleep,
with lighter heart. To her it is the only
pleasure of the day. Two matrons, O
keeper and policeman are present ct the
baths on the women's days to preserve
order, while the men are looked after by
one policeman and q couple of keepers.
The lot Of the keeper is an cnviablc one.
He is the autocrat of the bath house. His
eye confuses the scheming small boys and
his voice strikes terror to their hearts;
while strong men hear him and meekly
obey. In his hand he carries long and
springy rattan, which with the deXtcrity
born of long experience, he artfully twines
around inoffensive little boys legs and
trhcks over their shoulders. The little
boy may complain, may cry, may eXposttl-
late, but. it will avail him nothing, for be-
hind the wielder of the rattan is the police
man and behind the policeman is the law.
So the best thing for the little boy to do is
to cut and run for it. The lot of the
policeman is not such IN unpleasant one,
for the position gives him unlimited op-
portunity for repose and reflection aud
congenial conversation with the Keeper
New York World.
Bituminous Rock.